Frank Carlson (1893 - 1987)

Born in 1893 near Concordia, Kansas, Frank Carlson attended public schools and Kansas State University before serving in World War I as a Private. After the war, he returned to Concordia to farm. He was elected as a Republican to first the Kansas House of Representatives in 1928 and then to the United States House […]

Frank Charles Laubach (1884 - 1970)

Religious Leader. A Congregational missionary and educator, beginning in 1929 he developed literacy primers for more then 300 languages and dialects in more than 100 countries. In 1955 he founded the non-profit organization, Laubach Literacy Inc. He created the slogan “Each One Teach One.”  Family links:  Parents:  John Brittain Laubach (1849 – 1935)  Harriet Jane […]

Frank Christi (1929 - 1982)

Actor. He appeared in the films, “The Story Of Pretty Boy Floyd” (1974), “The Don Is Dead” (1973), “Hit!” (1973), “Terminal Island” (1973), and “The Steagle” (1971). He also made guest appearances on the television shows, “Charlie’s Angels,” “The Rockford Files,” “Baretta,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Serpico,” “The Blue Knight,” “Cannon,” “The Invisible Man,” “Mannix,” “Kojak,” […]

Frank Clarke (1898 - 1948)

American stunt pilot and motion picture actor. (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Frank Coghlan, Jr (1916 - 2009)

Actor. He appeared in more than one hundred motion pictures beginning as a child during the silent film era. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, he moved with his parents to California at the age of four and was brought to the attention of Cecil B. De Mille who put him under contract. He made his […]

Frank Conroy (1890 - 1964)

Actor. Stage, film and televison figure from the 1930s to the 1960s. He had roles in “Grand Hotel” (1932), “Night Flight” (1933), “Little Miss Marker” (1934), “The Ox-Bow Incident” (1943), and ” The Snake Pit” (1948). He received the 1957 ‘Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic)’ Tony Award for his performance in Graham Greene’s “The Potting […]

Frank Conroy (author) (1936 - 2005)

Frank Conroy was born on January 15, 1936 in New York, New York to an American father and a Danish mother. Conroy graduated from Haverford College, and was director of the influential Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa for 18 years, from 1987 until 2005, where he was also F. Wendell Miller Professor. […]

Frank Costello (1891 - 1973)

Frank Costello Arriving in New York City at the age of four with his immigrant Calabrian parents, Costello grew up in East Harlem and became head of the 104th Street Gang, a group of young Italian hoodlums. In 1915 he went to prison for a year for carrying a concealed weapon; on release he allied […]

Frank Crowninshield (1872 - 1947)

Writer, Publisher, Creator and Editor of “Vanity Fair” Magazine, Art Critic and Collector, and Toastmaster of New York.  Son of Frederic Crowninshield (1845-1918) artist, instructor, and Director of The American Academy in Rome, and Helen Susette Fairbanks Crowninshield (1841-1924).  Brother of Edward A. Crowninshield (1870-1938) an authority on antiques. Descendant of Johannes Caspar Richter von […]

Frank Deford (1938 - 2017)

Benjamin Franklin “Frank” Deford III (December 16, 1938 – May 28, 2017) was an American sportswriter and novelist. Over the course of four decades, he was a regular sports commentator on NPR’s Morning Edition radio program (from 1980 to 2017). Frank Deford wrote for Sports Illustrated magazine from 1962 until his death in 2017, and […]

Frank DeHass Robison (1970 - 1908)

Major League Baseball Team Owner, Businessman. A pioneer in street railway lines, he was the owner of the Cleveland Spiders baseball team.  In 1877, he and his father-in-law organized Hathaway & Robison to build and operate street railway systems.  The company established street railway systems throughout the United States and Canada.  Robison organized the Cleveland […]

Frank DeKova (1910 - 1981)

Actor. American motion picture and television figure of the 1950s through the 1980s. Played the popular “Chief Wild Eagle” in the hit 1960s television series “F-Troop.” (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Spouse:  James K Money (1912 – 1985)* *Calculated relationship

Frank Duveneck (1848 - 1919)

Artist. American portrait, genre, figure, and landscape painter and teacher, studied in Cincinnati and in Munich. In 1875, he showed a group of his canvases in Boston, where they created a sensation because of their bold brushwork, rich color, and forceful presentation of personality. He taught for many years in Munich and, after 1889, in […]

Frank Duveneck (1848 - 1919)

Artist. American portrait, genre, figure, and landscape painter and teacher, studied in Cincinnati and in Munich. In 1875, he showed a group of his canvases in Boston, where they created a sensation because of their bold brushwork, rich color, and forceful presentation of personality. He taught for many years in Munich and, after 1889, in […]

Frank E. Hermanson (1887 - 1933)

On June 17, 1933, Kansas City Missouri Police Detectives William J. Grooms and Frank E. Hermanson were sent to meet other officers arriving at Union Station with federal prison escapee, Frank Nash. Apparently an informant had relayed all the information regarding the arrival of Nash and his law enforcement escorts to various gangsters through out […]

Frank Faucett Phillips (1873 - 1950)

Business Magnate. He and his brother L.E. Phillips founded Phillips Petroleum company in 1917. Today this company is one of the largest employers in the city of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. During the early 1920’s, Phillips Petroleum company began selling gasoline to the new airplane industry that was emerging in Wichita, Kansas. Wichita also became the location […]

Frank Fay (1891 - 1961)

Entertainer.  One of the first modern stand-up comedians.  Born Francis Anthony Conner in San Francisco,  he began appearing in Vaudeville during World War I and debuted on Broadway in 1918.  Fay’s sophisticated irony and relaxed,  conversational style influenced a generation of comics,  including Jack Benny.  Typically dressed in top hat and tails,  he shot down […]

Frank Faylen (1905 - 1985)

An American character actor who specialized in the “average-joe” parts, and was equally effective in sympathetic or unlikable roles.   Faylen grew up in the theatre, as his parents were the vaudeville team of Ruf and Cusik.  He attended St. Joseph’s Preparatory College in Kirkwood, Missouri, but returned to vaudeville as a comic pantomimist.  He […]

Frank Finlay (1926 - 2016)

Frank Finlay Mark Gatiss, Sir Roger Moore and Alexander Armstrong are among those who have paid tribute to actor Frank Finlay, who has died aged 89. Frank Finlay, a star of the Three Musketeer films, earned an Oscar nomination for his role as Iago opposite Laurence Olivier in Othello in 1965. On TV, Frank Finlay […]

Frank Foster (1928 - 2011)

Frank Foster was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and educated at Wilberforce University. In 1949, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he joined the local jazz scene, playing with musicians such as Wardell Gray. Drafted into the US Army in 1951, Foster served in Korea with the 7th Infantry Division. Upon finishing his military service in 1953 he joined Count Basie’s […]

Frank Fulton Burley (1922 - 2007)

Singer,  Actor.  Burley was the wisecracking Irish tenor who entertained millions of Disneyland guests over the course of 25 years (1962 to 1987) as the star and master of ceremonies for the Golden Horseshoe Revue. He also provided the voice of the Irish parrot, Michael, for the Enchanted Tiki Room attraction at Disneyland. He was […]

Frank Furness (1839 - 1912)

Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient, Architect. Served as Captain and commander of Company F, 6th Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry (“Rush’s Lancers”). He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery at the Battle of Trevailian Station, Virginia on June 12, 1864. His citation reads “Voluntarily carried a box of ammunition across an […]

Frank Gorshin (1933 - 2005)

Gorshin was born on April 5, 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Catholic parents Frances, a seamstress, and Frank Gorshin, Sr., a railroad worker. He was of Slovenian ancestry. Frank Gorshin’s father, Frank Sr., was a second-generation Slovenian American whose parents emigrated to America from Dolenjska, Slovenia. His mother, Frances or Fanny, nee Prešeren, […]

Frank Gorshin, Jr (1933 - 2005)

Actor. He was born in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania). Appearing in more than 100 films, he is best remembered for his portrayal of the character ‘The Riddler’ in the classic 1960s TV series “Batman,” for which he received an Emmy Award nomination. In films, he worked in “The Proud and the Profane” (1956), “The True Story of […]

Frank Grouard (1850 - 1905)

Frank Grouard’s origins are the center of much speculation and controversy. He is variously described as having been American Indian, half-Indian, French-Creole or half-Black, the son of the early Black American Fur Company mountain man, John Brazeau. Grouard himself, in his biography dictated to journalist Joseph DeBarthe in 1891, was born in the Society Islands […]

Frank Gusenburg (1893 - 1929)

Gangster. Victim of Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, Chicago, Illinois.

Frank Hagney (1884 - 1973)

Australian-born motion picture actor who appeared in hundreds of films from the 1910s to the 1960s. (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Frank Hamblen (1947 - 2017)

Frank Alan Hamblen, II (April 16, 1947 – September 30, 2017) was an American basketball coach and scout. He played college basketball at Syracuse. He died in San Diego on September 30, 2017. Born in Terre Haute, Indiana, Frank Hamblen graduated from Garfield High School in Terre Haute in 1965. As a Sophomore, he was a […]

Frank Hamer (1884 - 1955)

Western Lawman. Born in Fairview, Texas, he was working as a wrangler on ranch when he helped the local sheriff capture a horse thief in 1905. He joined the Texas Rangers in 1906, patrolled the border in south Texas, resigned become the City Marshal of Navasota, Texas in 1908 and became a special officer in […]

Frank Hans Johnston (1888 - 1949)

Artist. He was one of the original members of the Group of Seven, a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920 to 1933 that also included Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley. He was born Francis Hans Johnston on June 19, 1888 in Toronto, Ontario, […]